S.A.’s Davis applauds Obama’s Olympics effort

San Antonio’s most decorated Olympian on Monday applauded President Barack Obama’s decision to attend the International Olympic Committee meetings this week in Denmark.

Josh Davis, who won five Olympic medals during his swimming career, said Obama’s decision to attend the meetings Friday in Copenhagen is “huge” for the U.S. Olympic movement and for the effort to bring the 2016 Summer Games to Chicago.

“It’s what we’ve been hoping for,” Davis said. “Over a month ago we weren’t sure if anybody was going to go. Then we found out that Michelle (Obama), the first lady, was going. Now we hear that Obama himself is going. So, this is very, very good.”

The IOC is expected to announce the 2016 host city on Friday, picking between Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo.

“For Obama to show up, in person, is very symbolic that the whole country is behind this, not just the city of Chicago,” Davis said.

Davis won three gold medals in Atlanta in 1996, the last time the Summer Games were held in the United States. He added two silvers in Sydney, Australia, in 2000.

Remembering his first experience at the Games in Atlanta, Davis called it “life-changing.”

“It’s just really, really special,” said Davis, a former American record-holder in the 200 meter freestyle. “You’re immediately on prime time. And it’s so easy to have your friends and family come to watch.”

On another front, Davis said having the Olympics in Chicago would allow another generation of Americans in general a chance to witness one of the greatest spectacles in sports.

“The Games are really one of the special things that we have on the planet,” he said. “And if we have it (in America), it makes it a lot easier for people to go experience that.”